A genuine man of the people, Kemmy was untypically scrupulous for a politician of his era, and earned the love and respect of many. However, he was unpopular with conservative elements, and made many enemies through his support of the right to divorce and abortion, and his opposition to violent republicanism. He died in 1997.

I personally think that Kemmy was such an admirable figure, that it's worth adding the following biography, taken from Local Ireland (http://www.local.ie/):

Jim was raised in the working-class district of Garryowen, the
eldest in a family of five. Studious and shy as a boy, he
showed early promise as a writer. Family circumstances and
his class background, however, resulted in his leaving school
early to become apprenticed as a stone mason. Witnessing
his father's death from TB and becoming the family
bread-winner at eighteen years of age brought his youth and
early hopes in life to a sudden end. Work being scarce in
1950sIreland, he was forced to emigrate to find a job.

Most significantly, a copy of John Steinbeck's novel In Dubious Battle fell into his hands there.
"The book was a revelation," Jim later wrote. "I found that Steinbeck was a different type of writer
from the kind I had previously read. He clearly had great working-class sympathies...." Thus
began his journey of discovery into the world of working-class politics and socialist thought. He
became convinced that Irish society was deeply unjust and resolved to try to change it.

He founded the Democratic Socialist Party in 1982. That party's policy on abortion led to Jim
losing his Dail seat in the November 1982 general election but he was re-elected in 1987. Under
his leadership the DSP merged with Labour in 1990, a move which was instrumental in securing
Mary Robinson's nomination in the presidential election.

In 1991 Jim was elected Mayor of Limerick City and in 1992 became Chairperson of the National
Labour Party. Recognised by all classes as their representative, during his second mayoral term
in 1995/96 Limerick's ladies of the night honoured him with a special presentation. In 1996 the
IsraeliAmbassador to Ireland awarded Jim the Medal of the City of Jerusalem in recognition of his
work on behalf of Limerick's Jewish community.

The Limerick Anthology, edited and introduced by Jim Kemmy, was published in 1996 in the run
up to the city's celebration in 1997 of the eighth centenary of its charter. Jim was diagnosed that
year with the condition of multiple myeloma, which was the cause of his untimely death shortly
afterwards in a Dublin hospital. Jim's sequel to The Limerick Anthology, The Limerick
Compendium was published posthumously in 1997 and launched by his friend and admirer, the
author Frank McCourt.